Telephone repeater or relay.



No. 692,553. r Patented Feb. 4, !902.'

s. n. SPBONG.

TELEPHONE REPEATER 0R RELAY.

(Application filed Aug. 14, 1901'.) (No Model.) 1 2 $heets-$heet l.

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s. n. SPRONG. y

TELEPHONE REPEATEB on RELAY.

(Application filed Aug. 14, 1901.)

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SEVERN D. SPRONG, OF METUCHEN, NEW JERSEY.

TELEPHONE REPEAT ER OR RELAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 692,553, dated February 4, 1902. Application filed August 141 1901. Serial No. 72,011. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, SEVERN D. SPRONG,a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Metuchen, county of Middlesex, and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Telephone Repeaters or Relays, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof, in which similar characters of reference indica te corresponding parts.

This invention relates to telephone repeaters or relays, the object thereof being to pro vide a novel and effective device of this character adapted to reinforce and facilitate the passage of voice-currents, whereby transmission can be effected over lines of great length and the transmitted messages are relayed with renewed strength.

I carry out myinvention by varyin g the pres? sure between small carbon particles held in more or less fixed relation to each other either wholly or in part by gravity or magnetism, or both, the variations in pressure of contact being caused by the telephone-current whose lines of force act on a line other than parallel position of said particles. Varying the pressure of contact between particles of carbon, as is well know'n',varies the resistance between the particles, and which'in turn varies the current if said particles are part of an elec-' .tric circuit.

The invention will be hereinafter fully described, and specifically set forth in the annexed claims.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure l is a vertical sectional elevation of myimproved apparatus, taken on the, line who of Fig. 2. Fig. 2

line y y of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic View illustrating the operation of my in vention, and Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of a carbon particle forming part of the device and illustrated upon an enlarged scale.

In the practice of my invention as illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, A represents a brass box for inclosing the mechanism and which embodies the base a, rear wall 'a, and side walls a The front and top of this box are covered by glass plates B B.- These plates are removable and are held normally in place by means of suitable fastenings, as b.

Extending in a horizontal direction .outwardly from the rear wall a. of the box A is an integrally-formed hanger A, which supports the permanent magnet O, the horizontal part c of said magnet being secured to a screw D, which is in vertically-adjustable connection with the hanger A and which is adapted to be locked in arbitrarily-selected position by means of the thumb-nuts d. The poles O C' of the magnet 0 respectively embody a horizon tally-adj ustable part 0, connected to the body of the magnet G by means of the screw 1, which passes through the slot 0 and a swinging part 0 secured in required relative position by means of the screw 2.

Located between the poles of the magnet O is a copper cylinder E, which is open at both ends and which contains a coil of insulated copper wire F and a glass tube G, the glass tube being closed at each end and having the airnearly exhausted therefrom to form a partial vacuum. The said copper cylinder E, surrounding the coil F, tends to confine the lines of force generated in the coil F to a line parallel with the axis of said coil.

Within the glass tube G is placed a plurality of small oblong iron particles H, which are each entirely enveloped by means of a coating h, composed of carbon. Also contained within the tube G, one at each end thereof and fitting snugly therein, are blocks I, composed of carbon and respectively having an outer coating or plate 1', composed of gold. These gold plates are soldered to the platinum leads J, which are fused in the ends of the tube G.

The copper cylinder E and its connected parts are supported upon a brass base K, which is soldered to the cylinder E and is secured to a bracket A forming part of the box A.

L may be either a permanent magnet or a piece of soft iron shaped as shown in the drawings and having the coil F interposed between itsends, as shown. This magnet is vertically adjustable by means of a screw Z, which is secured thereto and which engages m of said support to permit of horizontal ad-' justment and is locked in required position by means of the thumb-nut m The operation of the device is set forth in the diagrammatic view shown by Fig. 3 of the drawings. The carbon particles contained within the tube G, owing to the fact of their having iron cores, are .held lengthwise between the poles of the permanent magnet 0. The battery 3 maintains a uniform flow of current through the said particles and the primary -l of an induction-coil N, the sec ondary 5 thereof being connected to the receiving-circuit or outgoing line P. The lines of force set up by the incoming telephonecurrent through the line O,which is connected through the coil F, are at right angles to the lines of force of the controlling-magnet O, which latter lines tend to hold the particles in a normal position, such as that due to the fact of their having iron cores and being held lengthwise between the poles of said magnet (J, as previously explained. Therefore when the telephonic or fluctuating current is received through the coil F the same causes correspondinglyfluctuatinglines offorceat right angles to the controlling-lines of the magnet C and tends to and does slightly move, with corresponding variations, the particles H from their position of rest, this motion causing the variation in pressure between the carbon jackets of the iron particles, corresponding variation in the resistance, and therefore the current flowing in the battery-circuit, which variations are amplified by the induction-coil and from same conducted through the outgoing line P to the receiver Q, where the voicecurrents are received in amplified condition, thus producing loud and clear articulation over a line of any required length.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. In an electrical resistance, the combination with an insulated chamber the interior ofwhich is in a state of partial vacuum, of particles of carbon-coated iron particles within the same, circuit connections with said chamber and in circuit with the particles therein, and a magnet in juxtaposition to chamber for normally holding the particles in a fixed relation.

2. The combination, with a telephone-line, of a plurality of superimposed carbon particles and means inclosing them, a coil in connection with said line and surrounding said particles and a permanent magnet whose lines of force are at right angles to the lines of force set up by a current passing from the line through the said coil, and a battery-circuit and induction-coil, the primary of said induction-coil in connection with the carbon particles and the secondary connected to an outgoing or receiving line, substantially as shown and described.

3. The combination, with a telephone-line, of aplurality of superimposed particles ofiron coated with carbon, a closed glass chamber containing said particles, a coil connected with the line and surrounding said chamber, a permanent magnet suspended over the said parts in such position that its lines of force are at right angles to the lines of force set up by a current passing through the said coil, an auxiliary magnet whose lines of force are parallel to the lines of force of the said current, and a battery-circuit and inductioncoil, the primary of said induction-coil in connection with the carbon particles and the secondary in connection with an outgoing or receiving line, substantially as shown and described.

4. The combination, with a telephone-line, of a plurality of superimposed oblong particles of iron coated with carbon, a closed glass chamber containing said particles, a coil connected with the line and surrounding said chamber, a vertically-adjustable permanent magnet having adjustable poles, the said coil and particles located between the magnet poles in such position that the lines of force of the magnet are at right angles to the lines of force set up by the current from the line through the coil and an auxiliary vertically and horizontally adjustable magnet having its lines of force parallel to the lines of force of the coil-current, and a battery-circuit and induction-coil, the primary of said inductioncoil in connection with the said particles and the secondary in connection with an outgoing line and receiver, substantially as shown and described.

5. The combination, with a telephone-line, of a plurality of superimposed oblong particles of iron coated with carbon, a closed glass chamber containing said particles and which is partly exhausted of air and has a carbon block in each end thereof, a coil of copper insulated wire surrounding the said chamber and in connection with the telephone-line and a copper cylinder surrounding the said coil and means supporting the parts in stationary position, a vertically-adjustable permanent magnet having adjustable poles, and means for adjusting said magnet, the said coil and its connected parts located between the magnet-poles in such position that the lines of force of the magnet are at right angles to the lines of force set up by the current from the line through the coil, and a vertically and horizontally adjustable magnet having its lines of force parallel to the lines of force of the coil-current, and means for adjusting said magnet, and a battery-circuit and inductioncoil, the primary of said ind notion-coil connected to the carbon particles by means of the said carbon blocks in the cylinder, and the secondary connected with an outgoingline' IIO and receiver, substantially as shown and described.

6." The combination, with a telephone-line,

ofa plurality of superimposed particles of ironcoated with carbon, a closed'glass chamber containing said particles, a coil connected with the line and surrounding said chamber, a permanent magnet suspended over the said parts in such position that its lines of force are at right angles to the lines of force set up by a current passing through the said coil, a magnet-shaped soft-iron part arranged, when magnetized, with its'linesofforce parallel to E. M. CLARK, MARGARET AJSPRONG. 

